1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communication, and in particular, to facilitating wireless connection establishment between closely situated apparatuses.
2. Background
The ability of apparatuses to communicate wirelessly has progressed beyond the simple conveyance of voice information to encompass a multitude of electronic data types. For example, emerging wireless-enabled apparatuses may exchange textual data (e.g., text messages, emails, etc.), machine-readable data files, multimedia files, directional data, Internet-related data such as a webpage, etc. Electronic data may be conveyed over various wireless mediums, such as via long-range cellular architectures like Code Divisional Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), etc., via short-range wireless networking engaged over Bluetooth, wireless local area networking (WLAN), etc., or via direct device-to-device interactions over very short distances such as in instances of Near Field Communication (NFC).
The forms of communication available to wireless-enabled apparatuses may each have benefits making them appropriate for certain situations. For example, short-range wireless communications may operate in unregulated bandwidth between two or more apparatuses either directly or through a local master apparatus. Communication conducted via such mediums (e.g., Bluetooth, WLAN, etc.) may have benefits in that localized data transfers may occur relatively quickly with the ability to ensure data integrity and security during the transfer. For example, short-range wireless communication may allow for wireless-enabled peripherals (e.g., keyboards, headsets, etc.) to be employed with mobile wireless communication apparatuses for enhancing user experience. Such activity may occur alone or along with data (e.g., business cards, pictures, videos, sound files, etc.) being exchanged amongst these apparatuses without the need for support from long-range wireless networks that may be unavailable in some areas (e.g., indoors).
However, in addition to the above benefits, short-range wireless communications may also entail some configuration burden. As opposed to long-range wireless communications that may utilize a fixed configuration profile that may be recognized by any cell in the network, short-range wireless communications may need to be configured on a network-to-network basis. Therefore, users of apparatuses engaging in short-range wireless communication must have some knowledge of the configuration procedure in order to establish a short-range wireless connection, and even if the user has the requisite knowledge, the time and/or effort expended by the user in setting up the wireless connection may impact negatively on the overall experience of the user.